Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 34-35. (2014-2015)
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22 S. Berecki Fig. 2. Caves with Late Iron Age finds from Transylvania (map: L. Rupnik). furnace together with slags. Similar finds - iron ore, slag and crucibles - were found on the territory of the close fortification from Mere§ti- Pipások dombja.26 Late Iron Age cave workshops are rare in the Carpathian Basin; apart from the finds from the Varghi§ Ravine only the hearths from the Femeii cave-section at Cire^u-Pe§tera Topolnifa in Mehedinfi County and the iron melting furnaces found outside this caves can be mentioned.27 Further caves, such as the one from Dumbrava-Peftera cu apä, Hunedoara County28 are in regions rich in precious metals and iron ore, therefore, their use may be associated also with mining. The myths of the Mediterranean region - among which the most representative is the legend of Hephaestus, the physically disabled yet talented (initiated) ‘magician-technologist’ blacksmith of the gods29 - suggest that the metal workshops from the caves are exceptional. 26 Cri§an 1995, 361. 27 Boronearg 2000, 83. 28 Roman 2008, 125. 29 According to Crif an 1986,427 the Geto-Dacian pantheon also included a god similar to Hephaestus. Herodotus, according to whom the “iron has been discovered for the evil of mankind” (1,68) reports that “the Thracians also and Scythians [...] esteem those of their citizens who learn the arts, and the descendants of them, as less honourable than the rest” (II, 167).30 In contrast, in Eliade’s interpretation and view the metallurgist is the ‘master of the fire’, who, with his forge, substitutes the Mother Earth, and as a kind of alchemist accelerates the ‘maturation’ of the minerals. Because of his knowledge the metallurgist is considered by the community both saint and demonic, which is feared and held in contempt in the same time.31 Maybe with such a social perception we could associate the metallurgist’s workshop from the Varghi§ Ravine, too. 30 Herodotus, History (translated by G. C. Macaulay). 31 Eliade 2000, 44-46.
